Vinyl Bytes

Live365 Web Site Changes

Vinyl Bytes — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 16:04:22 +0000

No doubt you’ve seen it. I think it was released too early. There still are lots of bugs. If you’re having problems be sure to check the Wiki Page that explains things and offers tips. As I have nothing to do with these pages I can’t offer any other suggestions.

I hope things are fixed soon. I’m not to happy with this “improvement”.

Easy Upgrade

Vinyl Bytes — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 16:50:00 +0000

Finally! I’ve got enough easy instrumental music recorded in better quality so that an upgrade of Easy Standard Time is possible. The station is now in 64 kbps mp3PRO, which means that those who are VIP members and others who use an mp3PRO capable player can hear the music in (almost) CD quality sound.

Another change is the name of the station. No more Easy Standard Time. The new name is Instrumental Breezes. It better describes the music. But your presets won’t change. The broadcaster name, vgroove, won’t (and can’t) be changed.

I hope you all enjoy the improvements.

Problems Listening

Vinyl Bytes — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:32:16 +0000

I’ve been hearing and reading reports that some listeners are having problems getting Live365 stations to play. It seems that Live365 has released a new Flash player and made it the default for those of you who listen to the usual embedded pop-up player. But it has problems, especially for listeners using the newest versions of Windows Internet Explorer.

If you’re experiencing this problem, it’s easy to fix. Go to the bottom of almost any Live365 web page and click “Listening Settings” next to the headset icon. On the page that appears, scroll down to “Web Player Options” and click the button labelled “Player365-Flash v2.0″ or “Player365-WMP”. Then scroll down and click the button labelled “Save Settings”.

Your player should now work and you can enjoy the station of your choice. I hope that it’s one of mine.

It’s So Easy…

Vinyl Bytes — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:52:27 +0000

“Stuck in the ’50s” listeners may notice a lot more variety in the music lately. While I have added more songs that didn’t quite make the “Top Forty”, most of the variety is due to the new software I now use to create the playlists. It’s not completely automatic, but it does save a lot of typing and keeps track of what is in the list and warns me if I have too many songs by one artist or from one album. Because of the time saved I’ve been changing the playlist every day. Listenership has been increasing and I thank all of you for that.

Goodbye, Garfield

Vinyl Bytes — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:55:22 +0000

My web hosting provider is no longer offering the comics so I’ve removed the links from the column to the left. Actually, Foxtrot hasn’t worked for a few days. I’m sorry to see them go. My local newspaper doesn’t carry Foxtrot on weekdays and I enjoyed following the daily misadventures of the family.

Update: The AP News seems to be reliable again, so the link is now active to the left.

Christmas – 2009

Vinyl Bytes — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:44:04 +0000

“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas”, so the song goes. And I’ve added some music of the season to Easy Standard Time, all instrumental, and Grandpa D’s Place, with almost anything I’ve got in my collection. As usual, a few to start, with more added as we approach Christmas Day.

I hope this year brings joy to your home and that the music adds to it. Merry Christmas from Vinyl Bytes.

Changes

Vinyl Bytes — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:10:02 +0000

Live365 has made a few changes to their Broadcast packages, some good, some bad.

First, the good news. Storage space on the servers has been increased 50%. That means room for more variety in the music. Of course I have to prepare the music, so it may be a few weeks until you notice any change.

The bad news is that the number of Standard Listeners (non-VIP) at any given time has been decreased by about 25%. You may notice an occasional “Station Full” message. Two stations, “Stuck in the ’50s” and “The Dream Catcher” have hit that mark today. Of course Live365 stations are never full for VIP listeners and you can subscribe by clicking the big green button below.

Up Sizing

Vinyl Bytes — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:05:31 +0000

Lately the number of listeners to The Dream Catcher has been pushing the limits of my account with Live365. So as of May 1st I’ve updated the package to increase the number. Another advantage is that the storage space on the server also increases, so I can add more music to the rotation. I’ve got a lot of new CD’s from artists and you should be hearing more of those in the coming weeks.

Back to Work

Vinyl Bytes — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:05:31 +0000

OK, it’s not exactly work. More like a hobby. But we’re back from a two week vacation on three of the Hawaiian Islands. First up was some new music for the Dream Catcher. A Classical Concert is next on the list for new selections. ACC has a lot more room on the server since it’s renewal in January. And I’ve got quite a few old, interesting 33 1/3 albums to add. And no more vacation planned until at least May.

Another Year

Vinyl Bytes — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:08:52 +0000

With the start of the New Year there have been a few minor changes here at Vinyl Bytes. The biggest is that all stations are under the new contracts with Live365. A Classical Concert renewed on January 1st. The difference now is that I have much more storage space on the Live365 servers so there can be a greater variety of music. The downside is that fewer Standard listeners will be able to log on. That shouldn’t be a problem as A Classical Concert is never “sold out”.

One other change is, finally, a web page for Grandpa D’s Place. And if you’re one of the few Grandpa D’s listeners you may notice it’s “Live” from time to time, with no commercials for all listeners. That’s still in the experimental stage. I don’t want to do a lot of talking so there’s not much advantage to “Live”.